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Key Finding 8

Students participating in student-run newspapers are more likely to believe that students should be allowed to report controversial issues without approval of school authorities than students who do not participate in student newspapers.

"The biggest obstacle to practicing First Amendment principles in schools is the undemocratic, repressive way in which many schools are run. If schools want to take the First Amendment seriously, they must give students and all members of the school community a meaningful voice in shaping the life of the school. The biggest obstacle to teaching student media are budget cuts and the myopic focus on high-stakes testing."  

-Charles Haynes, Senior Scholar
Freedom Forum First Amendment Center

While participation in media-related activities has some impact on appreciation for the First Amendment, certain types of activities, such as the student newspaper, have a noticeably greater effect. Students who worked on school newspapers appreciated and understood the media and the First Amendment more than students as a whole. Not surprisingly, 64 percent of students participating in their school papers said students should be free to report controversial issues while 58 percent of non-participants agree.

Similarly, when looking at the broader issue of press freedom, the following graphic shows that school newspaper participants are more tolerant. Sixty-one percent of newspaper participants said newspapers should be able to publish freely without government approval of a story. Just half (50 percent) of students who do not participate in a school paper agreed that newspapers should have that right.

Newspapers should be able to publish freely without government approval of a story - agree or disagree?

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